PEEL: DEFENCE WAS SO CRUCIAL
DWAYNE Peel said his side’s steely defence provided the foundation for an impressive 36-13 bonus-point victory over the Emirates Lions at Parc y Scarlets on Friday night.
The home side had to defend resolutely for long periods against a powerful South African side, allowing them to break clear late on to claim a maximum haul in the United Rugby Championship.
The head coach said: “I am delighted with the win. Firstly, credit to our defence, it was a big defensive effort, we were under a lot of pressure for a lot of the game in our 22 and we withheld a lot of pressure.
“That is credit to the work the guys have put in.
“We scored some nice tries and probably left a few out there if I am perfectly honest.”
Peel got his first win as Scarlets coach as a brace from Tom Rogers and further tries from Rob Evans and Steff Evans sealed maximum points.
And while there were still some concerns, Peel will undoubtedly be happy with the performance orchestrated by fly-half Sam Costelow.
The Scarlets started quickly. Within a minute, some sleight of hand put the Lions on the back foot and, from there, Evans forced his way over from close range.
The talented Jordan Hendrikse got the Lions on the board with a longrange penalty but it wouldn’t be long before the home side forged further ahead.
Midway through the half, neat hands from the Scarlets backline put Wales’s summer debutant Rogers over in the corner for the simplest of tries.
The rest of the half saw the West Walians remain largely in control, with the two talented young flyhalves trading penalties.
In Scotland, it was the 20 minutes before half-time that undid the Scarlets. Here in Llanelli, it was the quarter following the break that Peel and his coaching staff will be analysing.
The Lions were one-dimensional in attack, but the Scarlets’ rising penalty count kept the pressure on themselves for the best part of 20 minutes.
Eventually, it paid as the Lions made it a one-score game as Ruben Schoeman burrowed over after a lengthy spell of direct carries.
But the boot of Costelow and then some trademark Scarlets swashbuckling rugby saw the hosts pull away.
A flowing move nearly put Dane Blacker over for a try, but when the scrum-half was dragged down short, Rabz Maxwane couldn’t resist killing the ball under pressure and saw yellow for his sins.
Minutes later, a tap-and-go from Dan Jones in his own 22 saw the ball pass through several pairs of hands in a flowing move, which resulted in Jonathan Davies putting Rogers over for his second of the night.
And they wrapped things up when Evans raced away from a midfield scrum in the final moments of the game.
“We turned the ball over a few times in their 22, but overall I am pleased with the result and it was great to see Steff (Evans) showing that gas in the 80th minute for the last try.”
Asked about the occasion, his first URC match in charge on home soil, Peel added: “It was great, a good crowd, the boys loved that.
“It was a good occasion, a good night.
“I am thankful for the support and pleased for the boys that they could get the win on the night.
“The Lions were very physical, big men. They will grow into the league and obviously going to South Africa will be a very different ball game.”
Peel said the performance was a big step up from the round one defeat in Edinburgh.
He added: “We stayed in the game for the whole period, we competed for 80 minutes – after 20 minutes last week we didn’t do that.
“There is lots to work on. Our penalty count was big, too many penalties, and with Munster coming next week and then Leinster away the week after we need to be better in that area.
“But what I have seen from the boys is that they have been very honest in review, they will continue to work hard so we can get better week in, week out.”